(TibetanReview.net, May04, 2014) – More than 160 contract or “substitute” school teachers, most of them Tibetans, in Rebgong (Tongren) County have staged a protest on Apr 30 in front of the Malho (Huangnan) Prefectural government offices in Qinghai Province, demanding better pay and other benefits, reported Radio Free Asia (Washington) May 02. They have complained that though full qualified and doing full time jobs, they are being paid only up to one-sixth the salaries paid to those hired as full-time employees. And full-time jobs remain elusive for most Tibetans.

Those hired as full-time teachers in the Rebkong area are paid from 3,000 to 5,000 yuan [US $479 to 799] per month, along with promotions and medical care and other benefits. However, substitute or contract teachers, though also working full time, have been paid only 500 to 1,000 yuan [US $80 to 160] per month over the last ten years, without any benefit.

The report cited sources as saying the teachers’ protest underscored a growing problem in Tibetan areas of the PRC, where ethnic Chinese are frequently hired over local Tibetans and where facility in the Chinese language is often a requirement for promotion. As a result, young and educated Tibetan graduates face increasing problems in finding jobs. And most of the graduates working even in county and other local government offices are hired only as temporary workers and receive low pays, the report cited another source as saying.